Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable
This invention relates to bandages, particularly to adhesive wound dressings.
A wound dressing comprising a carrier (backing) strip with adhesive areas for attachment to dry body surfaces is well-known in the art. A bandage of this type generally includes a pad made of an absorbent material to be positioned over the wound. The pad is secured to the carrier strip such that the pad occupies only a portion of the strip in the longitudinal direction of the strip. Even though bandages of this design work well for small wounds and abrasions, they are not optimally suited for treating elongated wounds because of the limited area of coverage offered by the absorbent pad. To dress an elongated wound, several bandages of the above-described construction must be applied side-by-side, transversely to the wound. Treating the wound in such a manner is time-consuming, inefficient, and unnecessarily conspicuous. Furthermore, an elongated wound may be located such that the application of several conventional bandages arranged side-by-side is impractical, e.g., next to the patient""s hairline, mouth, or eye.
Hence, a need arises for an adhesive wound dressing that enables treatment of elongated wounds, that can be applied quickly, that is inconspicuous, and that can be used on areas of the body where application of conventional bandages is impractical.
An adhesive bandage is disclosed. The bandage comprises a carrier strip having at least one adhesive portion. The bandage also includes a dressing element disposed along the entire length of the carrier strip adjacent to the adhesive portion(s). The width of the carrier strip exceeds that of the dressing element.
The advantages of the invention will become apparent after consideration of the ensuing description and the accompanying drawings.